Iraqi Kurdish referendum among closest threats on Turkey’s national security: MHP head

ISPARTA

The National Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said on Sept. 9 that the planned independence referendum of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government on Sept. 25 was among the closest threats on Turkey’s national security and that it should not be allowed.

“This referendum of peshmerga is one of the closest threats on our national security and it should never be allowed. If the potential Kurdistan referendum is not hindered, our last homeland will be an open target of a dark and treacherous conspiracy,” Bahçeli said speaking in the Mediterranean province of Isparta.

The MHP leader had earlier stated that the independence referendum should be deemed a “casus belli” for Turkey if necessary. But Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım dismissed claims that it would be tantamount to a cause of war as a war “can only break out between two states,” and Ankara does not recognize Arbil as a state.